Web Exclusive Reviews: Week of 2/25/2008

-- Publishers Weekly, 2/25/2008

NONFICTION

Black Glasses Like Clark Kent: A GI’s Secret from Postwar Japan
Terese Svoboda. Graywolf, $14 paper (112p) ISBN 9781555974909
In spare, controlled prose, novelist and poet Svoboda (Tin God) turns to nonfiction to deliver a powerful memoir-turned-political exposé. Svoboda sets out to document the military experiences of her uncle Don, but the Abu Ghraib prison scandal unleashes her uncle’s repressed memories, sending him into a deep depression. Before his eventual suicide, Don confesses long-unspoken secrets on cassettes for the author. The tapes reveal more about his service in post-WWII Japan, as well as detailed accounts of human rights abuses. As the book progresses, Svoboda grows increasingly aware of the consequences of Don’s words. His stories are interspersed through—and haunt—every chapter “I listen to his tapes several more times. His voice sounds much lower than I remember, it’s so gravelly I could walk on it.” The raw quality of Svoboda’s relationship to her uncle is as captivating as Svoboda’s investigations of the postwar period are alarming. Because she tries to include so much, the author occasionally runs into structural problems—though some of her digressions actually help the reader: by including interviews with Japanese citizens, tales of frustration with the National Archives, and conversations with her father, Svoboda illuminates her text. (Feb.)

Blood on the Table: The Greatest Cases of the New York City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
Colin Evans. Berkley, $15 paper (336p) ISBN 9780425219379
In its ninety years, the OCME of New York City has investigated over one million deaths and earned recognition as “the finest facility of its kind in North America, and as good as any in the world.” Evans (The Casebook of Forensic Detection: How Science Solved 100 of the World’s Most Baffling Crimes) makes a fascinating story of its operation, complete with clues to be discovered, internal intrigue, cut-throat politics and lots of local color. He writes with vibrant detail about eccentric criminals such as Abraham Becker and his friend Reuben Norkin who, in 1922, accused each other of murdering Becker’s wife—a deed for which both were brought to justice—and a surgeon who killed the patients of his rivals—and who nonetheless was acquitted. Highpoints include the epic battle between Elliot Gross and Michael Baden for the post of Chief Medical Examiner and the thousand-suspect murder of a violinist backstage at Lincoln Center. The book ends with a tribute to the bravery and tireless efforts of the OCME staff who identified victims from 9/11. Evans keeps things clicking while sticking to the facts; true crime buffs will not want to miss it. (Mar.)

Cancer on $5 a Day (Chemo Not Included): How Humor Got Me Through the Toughest Journey of My Life
Robert Schimmel with Alan Eisenstock. Da Capo Lifelong, $22 (195p) ISBN 9780738211589
Schimmel already had a hit HBO stand-up comedy special and a Stand-Up of the Year title from the American Comedy Awards when, in the spring of 2000, he was diagnosed with Stage III non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. His world changed instantly; success in the raunchy joke trade—he also had an edgy FOX series in development—was replaced by the struggle for survival, the rigors of chemotherapy and all the fear and uncertainty that goes with it. Schimmel also looks back on his son, whom he lost not long before to brain cancer. Among a crowded field of inspiring and straight-talking personal survival stories, Schimmel’s conversational account is particularly ribald, emphasizing the importance a sense of humor can play in coping, learning and healing. (Mar.)

Idiots, Hypocrites, Demagogues, and More Idiots: Not-So-Great Moments in Modern American Politics
Paul Slansky. Bloomsbury, $14.95 paper (240p) ISBN 9781596913752
With the rise of the 24-hour news cycle, “opportunities to screw up have increased exponentially” for politicians, paving the way for this studied catalog of official gaffes. The New Yorker and Huffington Post contributor cheerily points out the worst of the ruling class in a fragmented but digestible laundry list of fubars, missteps and snafus, including the memorable (Hillary Clinton’s sardonic, “I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies”) to the obscure (“Six Taped Conversations that Might Lead One to Believe Richard Nixon’s Oval Office was the Back Room of the Bada Bing Club”). Certain targets appear again and again, especially Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Dan Quayle, and it becomes difficult to find a page that doesn’t include George W. Bush in lists such as “Bush tells 10 inadvertent truths” and “The Inebriation of George W. Bush,” in which we learn that Bush doesn’t know the meaning of the word “inebriated” (literally). Of course, many of these funnies come out of context, but for the politically-minded water cooler crowd, this neatly bound collection of quotables may be one of the best sources from which to pull this election cycle. (Jan.)

Rupert Red Two: A Fighter Pilot’s Life from Thunderbolts to Thunderchiefs
Jack Broughton. Zenith, $26.95 (352p) ISBN 9780760332177
A full colonel, Broughton chronicles his 30-year career from his 1945 graduation from West Point as an Army Air Corps Officer through his transition to the newly-established U.S. Air Force in 1947, through years of service including in the Vietnam conflict. A man who loved being a pilot more than climbing the ranks, Broughton’s voice has integrity and heart to spare. Primarily, he writes about the aircraft he was assigned to fly (he flew virtually every fighter in the inventory) and the missions of each posting. But he also writes vividly about the transient, near-nomadic lifestyle a post-WWII military career could become (he and his family made three coast-to-coast moves in 15 months). Touched with humor and loss and the frustrations of military life under a growing bureaucracy, Broughton’s tour brings to life what was probably the most exciting time in history to be an Air Force pilot. (Jan.)

Smoke, Mirrors, and Murder: And Other True Cases: Ann Rule’s Crime Files Vol. 12
Ann Rule. Pocket, $7.99 (480p) ISBN 9781416541608
True crime bestseller Rule looks at marriages gone bad in her latest volume of “crime files.” Stories include “The Minister’s Wife,” about a woman convicted of shooting her husband in 2006, and “The Painter’s Wife,” an amazing tale of two strangers kidnapped by a hardened criminal. The bulk of the book is taken up by “The Deputy’s Wife,” the sad tale of a once-promising young police officer, Bill Jensen, who eventually took out a contract on his own family. It’s a good yarn, full of horrifying twists and turns, but at 150 pages it gets repetitive. For those not used to it, Rule’s fondness for potboiler prose—“Their marriage had spun like a colorful top...Now as it wound down slower and slower, Sue could see the pattern of lies”—can also aggravate. Many of the seven cases here are gruesome but unmemorable, perhaps the inevitable result of Rule’s prodigious output. (Jan.)

Your Brain on Cubs: Inside the Heads of Players and Fans
Edited by Dan Gordon. Dana, $19.95 (150p) ISBN 9781932594287
With their frustrating ups and downs, and nearly 100 years without a World Series win, the Chicago Cubs have been messing with the minds of their loyal fans for a long time, making that club the perfect topic for a book about the relationship between baseball and the human brain. Each of the essays in this off-beat collection explores a different aspect of baseball through the prism of neurology, and each piece relates, at least tangentially, back to the Cubs. There’s a chapter on the use of “neurotropic substances” as performance enhancers, and another on how to become an All Star ballplayer the traditional way: “All expertise comes from practice, and lots of it.” The book also routes out the answers to some quirky questions. Why are the majority of baseball’s best hitters lefties? Because left-handed people are more ambidextrous than righties, argues one contributor, making them adept at skills that require both hands. How can a diehard Cubs fan stay loyal despite years of heartbreak? He becomes “an expert in delaying gratification.” Although necessarily technical (this must be the only baseball book to reference the brain’s “limbic structures”), the essays are straightforward, entertaining and likely to provoke many barroom debates. (Mar.)

LIFESTYLE

Choosing Happiness: Life & Soul Essentials
Stephanie Dowrick with Catherine Greer. Tarcher, $16.95 paper (512p) ISBN 9781585425822
In the latest from inspirational author Dowrick (Forgiveness and Other Acts of Love), she explores the seven “essentials” that can provide contentment in a world that values material success over internal fulfillment. The problem, Dowrick writes, is that people have lost track of what is genuinely rewarding: “to be kind, to live enthusiastically and creatively, to appreciate and understand experiences different from our own, and to sustain a sense of inner stability and trust even in unwelcome and difficult situations.” Each chapter includes a series of mental exercises, self-examinations and meditations to explore and illuminate, in manageable steps, seven broad life skills which can seem overwhelming: “Trust who you are”; “Let your values and goals work for you”; “Choose your attitudes and responses; “Build self-respect”; “Consider others”; “Honor the people you love”; and “Think and act positively.” Collaborator Greer interjects a series of questions based in concrete problems—balancing family and work, coping with guilt, forgiving oneself and others—that keep the proceedings grounded. Part self-affirmation series, part cognitive psychology and part meditation on the power of generosity, this is a thoughtful and sincere guide for those seeking to find happiness within. (Jan.)

My Answer Is No… If That’s Ok With You: How Woman can Say No and Still Feel Good About It
Nanette Gartrell. Free Press, $24 (288p) ISBN 9781416546391
Gartrell’s new book gives women important, practical tools for saying “No” gracefully and without guilt. Women are especially bad at saying “No,” Gartrell writes, because of “our deeply rooted need for connection”: an old struggle between being considerate and being assertive that often leads to overcommitment, which in turn can cause exhaustion and, in some cases, a long-lived abusive relationship. Taking one relationship group at a time, Gartrell covers the basics (parents, dates and mates, friends and work) before moving on to more tricky, emotionally treacherous territory like assault and harassment, doctors and psychologists, and the dying. Including excellent tools and work management advice for women in the military, Gartrell’s guide is more about sticking up for oneself, and putting a stop to abusive situations, than freeing up more “me time” for overcommitted women. As such, much of the advice here will help anyone with a problem saying “No,” man or woman. (Jan.)

Stop Whining, Start Living
Laura Schlessinger. HarperCollins, $24.95 (208p) ISBN 97800608331
Licenced therapist Schlessinger has made a small media empire out of “telling it like it is,” exemplified nowhere better than in the titles of her numerous bestsellers (Ten Stupid Things Women do to Screw Up Their Lives; Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands). She does it again in her latest, giving readers the same get-over-yourself kick in the seat she delivers daily on the radio; in fact, the book is heavy on transcripts lifted directly from that show. Fan email is also used to illustrate Schlessinger’s points, which mostly amount to learning when to stop complaining. Strategies for this include counting blessings and suffering in silence: how does she cope with a son serving in combat? “[T]he truth is I just live with it. … I endure.” Most of Schlessinger’s values, encompassing maturity, compassion and responsibility—especially to family—can hardly be argued with, but her “Preaching, Teaching, Nagging” delivery can be condescending. (Mar.)

There’s a Spouse in My House: A Humorous Journey Through the First Years of Marriage
Peter Scott. Plume, $14 paper (256p) ISBN 9780452289260
Scott follows up Well Groomed: A Wedding Planner for What’s-His-Name (And His Bride) with this funny guide to what’s next for newlyweds. He begins with the reality of life post-wedding (Chapter 1: “Why Did the Photographer Only Take Pictures of the Hot Bridesmaid?”), then moves on to family life, establishing a home together, balancing careers and celebrating anniversaries. Scott’s a better comedian than psychologist: “One of you thinks, ‘I’m sure Ted will figure out that I hate it when he burps in bed’ while the other one thinks, ‘How psyched is Liz that she’s married to the burping champion?’“ For all the refreshingly modern straight talk, there’s a healthy dose of gender-role stereotyping too, and Scott courts controversy by giving advice separately to husbands and wives at the end of each chapter (he tends to tell husbands just to do what their wives want). Still, his blunt manner may prove helpful: “You can’t take sides with anyone else in your family except each other. The old alliances are gone and it’s time for a whole new game of Family Survivor.” (Feb.)

FICTION

1787
Sean Michael Bailey. Five Star, $25.95 (403p) ISBN 9781594146367
The pseudonymous Bailey’s debut reads more like a 1970s disaster film dressed up with superficial post-9/11 trappings than a serious effort to create suspense from the current realities of the terror threat. Hi-tech millionaire Matt Newton is on Anytime Airways flight number 1787 from New York’s Kennedy Airport to Mexico when hijackers take control of the plane, killing an air marshal and getting access to the cockpit with liquid explosives concealed in a female terrorist’s uterus. Newton and Anna Horowitz, a military historian, rally the passengers and manage to kill the bad guys (who conveniently fail to post a guard to keep an eye on the victims they had herded to the back of the plane), using beverage carts and pepper from condiment packages. But their triumph proves temporary, as no one has been left alive who can pilot the aircraft, and the government’s fears that a rogue nuke may be onboard make the plane an active target by the military. The deus ex machina device at the end to avert global disaster is likely to disappoint readers hoping for some realism. (Apr.)

Night Train: Stories
Lise Erdrich. Coffee House, $14.95 paper (160p) ISBN 9781566892025
Wry glimpses of life on the grim northern plains anchor these 31 short pieces by YA novelist Erdrich (sister to Louise), covering decades. In “Still Life with ‘Marigolds’ & the Blue Mumbled Earth,” a 31-year-old mother contemplates the bleak November graveyard in her Minnesota town and arrives at 31 reasons to go on living. In “Morphine”—one of the plethora of pieces here that take place on troubled Native American reservations—the narrator’s dying, overly-medicated Auntie Grace defends JFK Jr. and Princess Diana as models of exemplary behavior, refusing to believe in any parallel between their ways and those of the wayward Indian youths she prays for. “Hairy Buffalo” takes its title from the hardcore drink the collegiate narrator is introduced to at a party, a drink that reduces its white and Indian partakers to the lowest common denominator. The title story’s train takes Miss Garbo, a whiskey-swilling 19-year-old college dropout, through the state of North Dakota over Christmas vacation: she savors her solitariness and fledgling poet’s sense of purpose. Legends, landscape, and a sense of having lived deeply converge in Erdrich’s tactile prose. (Feb.)

Unholy Domain
Dan Ronco. Künati (IPG, dist.), $24.95 (352p) ISBN 9781601640215
Set in the year 2022, Ronco’s techno-thriller continues the premise established in his first book, PeaceMaker. In 2012, the PeaceMaker virus, supposedly designed by madman software expert Ray Brown, shut down the Internet, resulting in worldwide devastation. Since this cataclysm, the government has curtailed new technology. Those who would see the government limitations overturned are known as Technos; opposing them is a group of dangerous religious extremists, the Church of Natural Humans. Several events have brought these two warring factions head-to-head: the creators of illegal technology, the Domain, has decided to take over the government, and Ray Brown’s son, David, has undertaken an investigation in an attempt to clear his father’s name. The basic idea is interesting, but there’s something more than a little of the adolescent about the entire enterprise, from the constant sexual references regarding every female character (“She wore skin-tight jeans, which showed off her tight, round butt as she walked past”) to such lines as: “She enjoyed a drag of her cigarette, which felt robust and full.” This is the second volume in a proposed trilogy. (Apr.)

AUDIO

Beginner’s Greek
James Collins, read by Jerry O’Connell. Hachette Audio, abridged, five CDs, 6.5 hrs., $29.98 ISBN 9781600240744
Often the audio medium can make a book an even richer experience, as elegant phrases and colorful characters are brought to life. Unfortunately, this production amplifies the novel’s flaws. Peter keeps missing chances to reveal his true feelings of love to Holly, a woman he met by chance on a plane and who married his best friend. The book’s clunky, repetitive prose (“This was flattery, meant to amuse and flatter her”) comes across worse to the ear than to the eye. The abridgment is often confusing and reduces dialogue scenes to dry summaries of discussions, but some of this is the author’s fault. Instead of allowing the listener inside the heads of the characters, Collins simply describes their motivations in a detached, clinical way. This technique is more detrimental on audio than in print. Jerry O’Connell’s bland, uninspired narration doesn’t bother to differentiate character voices at all, apart from pitching his voice slightly higher for women’s dialogue. He self-consciously enunciates each syllable, instead of using his acting skills to convey emotion or bring the story to life. The result is an audiobook as tedious as one of Peter’s business meetings. Simultaneous release with the Little, Brown hardcover (Reviews, Oct. 1). (Jan.)

Best Friends
Martha Moody, read by Renee Raudman. Tantor Audio, unabridged, 14 CDs, 17 hrs., $39.99 ISBN 9781400105816
Moody’s popular tale of friendship throughout the years is wonderfully realized by Renee Raudman through her underplayed performance. The bond between Moody and Raudman, having collaborated previously on The Office of Desire, mirrors the touching relationship between the characters of Sally Rose and Clare Mann. Raudman gives each an original, realistic voice while offering an unwavering omniscient narrator. She also summons a variety of accents and dialects for the colorful cast of characters throughout. One gets the sense that Raudman understands Moody’s original text so firmly that only she could possibly have read it, thus creating a memorable experience for the listener. A Riverhead paperback (Reviews, May 28, 2001). (Jan.)

Mothers and Sons: Stories
Colm Tóibín, read by Gerard Doyle. Blackstone Audio, unabridged, seven CDs, 8.5 hrs., $19.95 ISBN 9781433206917
Though not a grand storyteller or a consummate imitator of various voices and cadences, Gerard Doyle’s introspective and masterful reading of most of Tóibín’s short stories is nearly perfect. Doyle’s assured voice fits Tóibín’s characters, who think more than they act, fail to communicate with those closest to them and prefer their own company to that of others. There is little dialogue since people feel they can confide in no one, even their own mother or son. Doyle phrases the stories carefully in order to highlight the rich nuances and stark lighting and scenery. The stories end abruptly, with the characters on the verge of, rather than at the end of, some transformative experience. Therefore, the extra long pauses between stories are welcome. Unfortunately, Doyle loses some of his power in the last story, “A Long Winter,” which is set in Spain, but in which, oddly, Doyle affects a Slavic accent. Nevertheless, Tóibín’s consummate writing skills are not to be missed by lovers of serious literature. Simultaneous release with Scribner hardcover (Reviews, Oct. 16). (Jan.)

Opening Atlantis
Harry Turtledove, read by Todd McLaren. Tantor Audio, unabridged, 13 CDs, 17 hrs., $39.99 ISBN 9781400105540
Even in his lesser efforts, like this start of a trilogy about the Lost Continent of Atlantis, Turtledove is still the master of alternative history. Helped by the cool understatement of Todd McLaren, who makes all the “What ifs?” of the genre fresh and believable, listeners should plunge right into this predictable but intriguing story of the discovery of an unknown island during the reign of Henry VI by a wandering English fisherman. Fed up with political repression, the fisherman, his family and a few friends head for the promised paradise—only to find themselves pitted against an exiled nobleman who wants to rule the island. McLaren makes all the voices distinct and identifiable, from lowly Brits and smarmy lords to the foreigners flocking to Atlantis. There’s not much magic or even the startling hooks on which Turtledove has hung earlier books (like the sudden arrival of repeating rifles during the American Civil War in Guns of the South), but Turtledove fans will appreciate McLaren’s efforts. Simultaneous release with the Roc hardcover (Reviews, Oct. 1). (Jan.)

Three Shirt Deal
Stephen J. Cannell, read by Scott Brick. Brilliance Audio, unabridged, eight CDs, 10 hrs., $36.95 ISBN 9781423326618
Scott Brick is adept at slipping convincingly into the mindset of his characters. As Cannell’s series protagonist Shane Scully, his voice is tense, with an undercurrent of almost feverish anxiety. The LAPD cop is under pressure from trouble at home and on the job. As Cannell piles on the pressure, widening the rift between the Scullys and adding threats, torture and narrow escapes to the crime story, Brick keeps pace, injecting elements of frustration, shock, anger and surprising tenderness. Cannell is particularly adept at dialogue and action, and Brick handles both well. This crime yarn is a little too convoluted, involving a mayoralty campaign, gangbangers, a tricky home security scam, a million-dollar beer contest and an attempted homicide by roller-coaster. Both Brick and the novel are on steadier ground with the more emotional and believable story of Shane and Alexa’s struggle to save their marriage. Simultaneous release with the St. Martin’s hardcover (Reviews, Nov. 12). (Jan.)

Winged Creatures
Roy Freirich, read by Dion Graham. Blackstone Audio, unabridged, eight CDs, 9.5 hrs., $26.95 ISBN 9781433208744
Freirich’s novel offers a sprawling cast of characters, each giving their own personal accounts after going through a life-altering event. However, Dion Graham fails to make good use of the palette here, whispering and mumbling his way through the entire story. Graham’s characters are unbelievable and forced, sounding unrealistic and unfamiliar. His reading becomes farcical and fake as his theatrical vocal antics lose the seriousness of Freirich’s story. Instead of a narrator, Graham sounds like an actor trying too hard in an early audition, emphasizing every word in an attempt to create a mysterious and captivating atmosphere. Sadly, the story itself is wonderful, but Graham is mismatched. Simultaneous release with the St. Martin’s Griffin paperback (Reviews, Nov. 12). (Jan.)